Now Ya Got My Blood a’Boilin’
High school kids have it hard enough without having to answer to a principal like this one in Memphis.
A public high school principal who posted the names of two boys on a list of students believed to be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other students and teachers, violated the students’ constitutional right to freedom of association, the American Civil Liberties Union charged Tuesday. …
In September of 2007, the principal at Hollis F. Price Middle College High told teachers she wanted the names of all student couples, “hetero and homo,” because she wanted to monitor them personally to prevent students from engaging in public displays of affection.
The two students now represented by the ACLU, Andrew and Nicholas (who have asked that their last names not be revealed), were two A students who had been seeing each other for a short time and were attempting to keep their relationship quiet and private.
The principal heard about them through another student, then wrote their names on a list she posted next to her desk, in full view of anyone who entered her office. …
Although the boys had never been observed by any school staff engaging in any sort of display of affection, the principal called Nicholas’s mother Nichole.
According to Nichole, the principal said things like “Did you know your son is gay?” repeatedly and went on to say that she didn’t like gay people and wouldn’t tolerate homosexuality at her school.
Both students say they’ve had to deal with verbal harassment from both teachers and students since word got out around the school about their principal’s actions.
Now if this weren’t bad enough, there’s more – and it concerns us:
According to Nicholas, he also suffered another consequence of the principal’s discrimination. He had submitted extensive paperwork and several recommendations from teachers for a school trip to New Orleans to assist in rebuilding efforts.
Having a long history of community service, he was considered a shoo-in to be selected to go before the incident, but then a teacher told Nicholas some faculty were afraid he might “embarrass the school” or engage in “inappropriate behavior.”
A few days later, another student who hadn’t even applied to go on the trip was selected in his place.
What the hell do they think this high school kid was going to do in this evil city? I can imagine. And I have to wonder about the kind of people who think up this stuff. Besides, aren’t these kids chaperoned on their treks down south to help us rebuild? Pathetic.
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